Gear Reviews

NuForce Icon iDo ($250): It’s no secret most i-devices have pretty crappy sound from the speakers, and true audio nerds stick up their noses at the compressed-audio sound from these aluminum toys. Enter the iDo, which plugs straight into the dock connector, runs your audio through its sweet, sweet converters, and pumps out crystal clear tunes fit for your home audio or fancy-pants headphones. It’s a lot to shell out for sound that most people can’t even appreciate, but if you know you need this, you need this.  3/5

Pentax Optio WG-1 (£209): Digital cameras are a touchy, delicate lot, but when you absolutely, positively have to go snowboarding and get the everloving crap kicked out of you, while getting a picture of it, this is your beast. It’s everything-proof, fast, and takes a decent picture. There aren’t many cameras with a carabiner on the strap, but this one has one. That’s basically everything you need to know.  4/5

HTC Evo 3D (£400-£500): Maybe I’m biased, since 3D never really worked for me, but honestly, it’s exactly this kind of thing that makes me want to give the whole thing up as a bad idea. I do not need a 3D camera and screen on my phone. Neither do you.  2/5

Sony Tablet S (£399): Fact: You can’t be a serious gear company unless you make a tablet. It’s like, a law or something. So it’s good to see Sony jumping in, with a wedge-shaped Android tablet that looks like a folded-over magazine. It’s light, and runs the OS at a good clip. Still, there isn’t much to offer that’s over and above the iPad, most especially the price. Credit to Sony for going a bit weird on the design, and reading it flat on a table, with the inclined screen, is a nice trick, but for all that there just isn’t enough to slot this into your bag.  3/5

Sony Tablet P (£499): Even weirder is this guy – a folding screen tablet that supposedly replicates reading a book, or typing on a dedicated screen-keyboard. It’s the kind of idea you want to get excited about, but you just can’t quite see the point. The whole point of a flat tablet is a big screen, and the whole point of a small one is to be a phone. The price ain’t helping things either.  2/5